So this morning Mother Ceres put on her turban made of scarlet poppies
and got into her car. This car was drawn by a pair of winged dragons
which went very fast, and Mother Ceres was just ready to start, when
Proserpina said, "Dear mother, I shall be very lonely while you are
away, may I run down to the sands, and ask some of the sea-children to
come out of the water to play with me?"

"Yes, child, you may," answered Mother Ceres, "but you must take care
not to stray away from them, and you are not to play in the fields by
yourself with no one to take care of you."

Proserpina promised to remember what her mother said, and by the time
the dragons with their big wings had whirled the car out of sight she
was already on the shore, calling to the sea-children to come to play
with her.

They knew Proserpina's voice and came at once: pretty children with
wavy sea-green hair and shining faces, and they sat down on the wet
sand where the waves could still break over them, and began to make a
necklace for Proserpina of beautiful shells brought from their home at
the bottom of the sea.

Proserpina was so delighted when they hung the necklace round her neck
that she wanted to give them something in return. "Will you come with
me into the fields," she asked, "and I will gather flowers and make
you each a wreath?"

"Oh no, dear Proserpina," said the sea-children, "we may not go with
you on the dry land. We must keep close beside the sea and let the
waves wash over us every minute or two. If it were not for the salt